


Therapy

by futuresteven (orphan_account)



Series: unity [6]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Fluff, Other, he actually goes to therapy, kind of part 2 to the doctor’s office, so does yin and yang, steven is a fusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23306881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/futuresteven
Summary: Steven is finally convinced into going to therapy after Dr. Maheswaran recommends that he does. However, therapy can be difficult when you’re a fusion.TW: ptsd and depression
Relationships: Pink Steven Universe & Steven Universe, Steven Universe & Greg Universe, no ships - Relationship
Series: unity [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671916
Comments: 14
Kudos: 166





	Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> TW: PTSD and depression

“It won’t be _that_ bad, buddy,” Greg said, turning down the volume and glancing at his son. It turns out Steven definitely wasn’t a big fan of having to go to therapy, seeing as how he’d either be glowing pink or just nervous throughout the first five minutes of the drive there. The hybrid sighed.

“I don’t know, dad,” Steven replied, looking out of the window and observing the nature that the van was passing, “It just feels like no one would be able to understand. I’ll be telling someone my problems and they won’t even know more than half of the things that I’m talking about.”

Greg focused on the road, nodding slowly. Quite honestly, that had been the reason that he had never taken Steven to the doctor before, “Well, Priyanka says that this is the same person who helps Connie. They’ll probably understand _some_ things at the very least.”

The fusion shrugged his shoulders. His dad had a good point, Connie must have explained at least a few things. The boy couldn’t help but wonder just how long his best friend really _had_ been in therapy for. He didn’t learn that she had it until recently.

Soon enough, the van was parked in front of an unfamiliar building. It definitely looked like a stereotypical therapy building, painted a light shade with plenty of large windows. The two in the car glanced at each other. Greg nodded and smiled at his son, who did the same in return. They fistbumped and stepped out of the car.

“Just take a seat, Schtu-Ball. I’ll get you signed in and everything,” Greg mumbled, walking up to the front desk. Steven sat down in the seat that he was closest to at the time.

The waiting room here was much more comfortable than the one in the hospital. The seats were cushioned, much to Steven’s surprise. It also helped that there were other people in the waiting room as well, some older and some younger. He was sure he could smell lavender which he would gladly take over the hospital’s chemical-smelling air.

His dad sat in the seat next to him, “You’re all signed in now. Don’t be nervous, I’m sure it’ll go well.” Steven smiled at his father’s words, trying to calm down a little more before he ended up having to speak to the therapist.

A few minutes filled with memories from the past and laughter was interrupted by who Steven could only assume would be his therapist asking to speak to his father. The two of them left to speak, leaving Steven alone in the waiting room.

The nervous hybrid tapped his foot and drummed his fingers on the armrest. ‘ _I could be a one man band_ ,’ He mused to himself, a small smile forming on his face as he did so. What music would he make, anyways? Maybe a song his dad wrote, or even one that _he_ wrote. He began to space out, ignoring his surroundings.

A few minutes passed before Greg took a seat next to him again, “She’s ready to talk to you, Steve-aroni. I’ll be out here the entire time waiting for you. If anything happens you can call me.”

“Thanks dad!” Steven replied, flashing a bright smile at the other before he walked down the hall. He recognized the room he had seen his dad walk into just minutes before and knocked on the door.

“Steven?” A voice behind the door asked. When the hybrid replied that he was, in fact, Steven, he heard the voice chuckle, “Come in.”

“Take a seat,” The therapist motioned to the sofa in front of her desk. The boy sat down in the seat farthest from the other awkwardly, tensing up when she smiled at him, “You can just call me Dr. G. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Steven.”

An awkward smile forced its way onto Steven’s face. “Uhm, hi? I… yeah, I’m Steven, you already know that,” He stammered out. Dr. G smiled at his words and he looked away, embarrassed .

“There’s no need to be scared,” She consoled, “Everything said in this room will be confidential for the most part. If you make any serious threats, then I’ll be required by law to tell someone. I doubt you’d do such a thing, though.”

The boy nodded, flustered. That was somewhat reassuring at the very least. He wouldn’t want the others worrying about his problems, especially not when they were finally happy. Sometimes, Steven felt like the only one who was still sad. He looked around at his friends and just saw smiles and happiness. 

Dr. G spoke up after a moment, “Alright, Steven. I already know a lot of things about gems, both from Connie and your father. I’ll help in every way I possibly can,” She looked over a few notes, “According to Dr. Maheswaran, you’ve had some serious trauma in the past. Tell me about it.”

“All of it, or…” He tensed some more. Dr. G seemed surprised by his answer for a split second. It wouldn’t be noticeable if you hadn’t been focusing on her facial expressions.

“All of it,” The therapist repeated, picking up her pencil and pulling out a blank sheet of paper. She was likely going to take notes about everything he said.

Steven laid back on the couch, crossing his legs and resting his arms over his gem, “Well… I was born just like everyone else, except my mom gave up her gem to have me, so now I have her gem. Anyways, for so long everyone was convinced that I _was_ her somehow. Especially Pearl, she didn’t believe I was just me as a child. Actually, she was gonna rip my gem out when I was a baby,” He jabbered out, “She’s fine now, though.”

Dr. G hummed, taking jotting down notes as Steven continued on, “It all started when my favorite ice cream brand was cancelled. After that I got attacked by a corrupted gem, and then it turns out I have powers! I thought they were cool as a kid, because my mom had the same ones! I was supposed to be just like her, and I _wanted_ to be just like the incredible Rose Quartz, starter of the Rebellion and savior of Earth,” He paused for a moment and took a deep breath, “However, these powers ended up with me nearly dying or hurting others, such as when I got trapped in a bubble with Connie and nearly drowned, or when I almost turned so old I died… or that time when a bunch of cats almost took over my body.”

The hybrid didn’t notice his gem begin to glow, nor did he hear the voices in his head telling him to stop thinking about that, “It turns out not only my powers were crazy, because then Amethyst almost died… and Pearl _did_ die, but she came back, but Garnet was destabilized right in front of me,” He rambled, “Then there was that time Ronaldo almost killed someone, and when Amethyst shapeshifted into my dead mom to manipulate my dad, or when Lapis forced Jasper into an unstable fusion and I spoke to her through my dreams… and then all the other times I almost died, and also the forced gem fusions, oh and then there was the time I almost got killed in a warp pad when trying to prove everyone wrong…”

His skin began to glow pink as he continued on, sounding much more nervous than before, “And then that time I got trapped in space and almost got killed by a Ruby who thought I was my mom, and then that time I spoke to my mom in her magical room, also that time when I was put on trial because everyone thought I was my mom and met Blue and Yellow Diamond for the first time. Also, it turns out my mom lied about who she truly was and she was actually Pink Diamond, who was a runaway diamond that everyone hated and I grew up being against. Then there was when I spoke to the Cluster too, I forgot that, and when Lars died because we got stuck on Homeworld when we escaped. We met the Off Colors though, and I healed Lars with my mom’s powers that let me bring people back to life…”

Dr. G wasn’t even taking notes any more, staring at Steven with a shocked expression, “But then I crashed into the Jungle Moon when fused as Stevonnie and saw Pink Diamond, and after we got back on Earth I helped my friends Ruby and Sapphire get married, but then their wedding was ruined by Blue and Yellow Diamond, and their giant arm ships fought against the cluster…. and then I had to show the Diamonds that I am in fact the one who has Pink Diamond’s gem, even though we _all_ thought that it was Rose Quartz’s gem, but I was brought onto Homeworld. The Diamonds were all convinced that I was actually Pink Diamond, which was really funny at first, but then I started to believe that I actually _was_ my mom and that my life was a lie. After that, Connie and I fused as Stevonnie and we were locked into a tower, and we only got out by pointing out how abusive Blue was. After that, all of my friends were poofed so I had to fuse with them in order to get them out. Then we formed Obsidian and fought White Diamond’s huge mecha ship thing.”

He subconsciously summoned his shield and began to spin it around, glow growing brighter by the second, “I had crazy dreams where I saw through my mom’s eyes, and then I was forced to confront White Diamond. She took control over all of my friends and the other Diamonds so no one else was there except Connie, the only one who she couldn’t take control over because Connie’s a human. Then she convinced me that I was my mom and she picked me up and she…”

Steven couldn’t continue, suddenly being hit with nausea he hadn’t felt before. He couldn’t continue. Tears fell from his eyes and he sat up, hugging his knees close to himself. Dr. G walked over to him, rubbing his back and frowning, “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”

“No,” Steven forced out, glowing even brighter than he was before, “I want to. I _have_ to tell someone. White Diamond picked me up and she…,” His mouth felt dry and he was hit with a second wave of nausea. Yin and Yang were louder than they probably ever had been before and he groaned, trying to ignore his headache.

“And she?” Dr. G questioned, continuing to rub the boy’s back as he let tears flow. Steven pushed her away after a moment and she took a few steps back, deciding to respect his silent request for space.

The fusion shivered, once again feeling instability cover his entire form. His shield disappeared and his gem flew even brighter than before. There was a bright flash of light, white and pink mixing together. Dr. G looked surprised when, instead of having one patient, she suddenly had two. Quickly, the therapist tried to mask her sudden confusion with a small smile. This must be what fusion was, based on what she’s heard from Connie.

“Hi there,” She greeted, trying to be polite. It was difficult when the human was crying and the gem was staring into her soul, though. After a few moments, the gem quickly raised his hand and awkwardly waved. She waved back, sending a reassuring smile in his direction.

The human was crying into his gem’s shoulder, tightly hugging him. In turn, the gem wrapped an arm around his shoulders, although his gaze never left the therapist’s stare.

“May I ask what your names are?” inquired Dr. G, once again picking up her pencil and preparing to write a note. She noticed the gem pull his human closer.

Then, with an apathetic expression, he spoke with a smooth tone, “Steven.”

“Steven… right,” Dr. G wrote that down before turning back to the gem, “Is it okay if I ask what your friend’s name is?” She motioned to the human.

“Steven.”

This made Dr. G raise a brow, “Okaaaay… that confuses things a bit,” She turned back to the gem Steven, “Do you have any nicknames you prefer to go by?”

“Yes,” The gem kept an eye on the therapist, although the majority of his thoughts had to do with the human next to him. Maybe that was because he could feel the other’s pain?

“Which are?” The therapist asked expectantly. Steven was much easier to talk to so far. Maybe his human component would be good at speaking, too.

The gem stared at her blankly, “Directive given: do _not_ tell strangers our names.” His voice was kind of chilling, and not in a good way. The therapist took a seat across from him.

“Well, alright,” She hummed, leaning back in her seat, “If you don’t mind me asking, what was… original Steven talking about before he unfused?” She was glad that Connie had explained these terms to her before. Otherwise, she’d be freaked out by now.

Gem Steven looked to the side, almost as if he was trying to remember what had been said. However, once he remembered exactly what made them unfuse in the first place he froze, pupils growing small as his grip tightened on his human.

Dr. G took note of this, although she wanted her patients to go at their own paces. She always made sure she never forced her patients to say something they may not be comfortable talking about at first. However, the human Steven looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

“White Diamond…” He stammered out between gasps for air, trying to hold back his sobs, “She seperated us. She picked Steven up, and pulled out his gem. That’s how he found out that he was a fusion,” His voice was shaky, “She then tried to kill Yin, and I was dying, and couldn’t help and…” His voice trailed off.

Dr. G recognized White Diamond from stories Connie had told her about. The therapist had heard about the exact same experience but from her point of view instead of Steven’s. It seemed to get worse every time she heard about it.

“So, just to clarify, your gem’s name is Yin, and your name is…” She tried to coax the human to say his name. Through tears, the human answered.

“Yang. Connie and Steven decided to name us Yin and Yang, because we couldn’t _all_ be Steven,” The laugh he let out seemed to be more nervous than anything. Yin seemed to overhear this and glanced at Yang, only for the human to rest his head on the gem’s shoulder again, “Yin, she’s only just trying to help Steven. We’re part of Steven, she needs to know us.”

Dr. G took down note of their actual names and waited for them to finish speaking. After a few moments of silence, the therapist spoke up again, “Well… Dr. Maheswaran wasn't wrong. You definitely have been through… _lots_ of horrible things. At such a young age, too…” Her voice trailed off, looking over what she had written down so far.

“Based on what your dad has said about your habits and things of the sort, along with what I’ve noticed from you, I think it’s safe to say that you _do_ have post traumatic stress disorder,” She took note of her own thoughts as well. She heard a sigh come from Yang, who shook his head slowly.

Yang glanced at Yin, who had tensed at the words. The two stared at each other for a minute before the human spoke up again, “Is there anything you can do to help him? To help _us_?” 

“Yes, actually,” Dr. G replied, shooting him a reassuring smile, “To start things off, we should help you two first. Connie told me that thoughts reflect onto a fusion, right?” Yang nodded. “Then if I help both of you, I’m sure that I’ll be able to help Steven indirectly.”

Yin didn’t seem as tense anymore. He decided to speak up, which surprised his human, “How.” That one word alone took most people tons of time to hear. He never spoke to anyone, no matter how much Yang tried to force him to.

“Is it alright if I talk to each of you separately first?” The girl asked the boys, a more serious expression planted on her face. The halves glanced at each other before shrugging.

Yang nodded, “Sure. But, we have to be close to each other, so when one of us is in here the other will need to be outside the door… is that okay? Or do you want the other to go to the waiting room?”

“Whatever you two are most comfortable with,” Dr. G stated, “This is for your help, so I want you two to be as comfortable as possible. Now, which one of you wouldn’t mind stepping out of the room first?”

This earned a chuckle from Yang, “Well, I’m a lot easier to talk to. Yin’s a little more of the quiet type, although when we’re fused he talks a _loooot_.” The human giggled as his gem cracked a small smile, “What? You know it’s true!”

Yin’s smile grew and he poked the human’s cheek before getting up and exiting the room. Yang watched as he left the room, secretly kind of fearful of being alone with someone he didn’t know too well. However, he knew it was best for not only himself and Yin, but also for _Steven_.

“Before we start, do you have any questions?” Dr. G asked, shooting the boy a reassuring smile. Although he smiled back, Yang still seemed nervous.

“No… I don’t have any that I can think of right now, at least,” He shrugged his shoulders, leaning back on the sofa. He relaxed once he felt energy coming from the other side of the wall. Yin was a life savior… quite literally.

The therapist nodded, “What are your biggest problems in life? By that I mean… what troubles you the most? Whether that be right now or just usually.”

Yang thought for a moment before his expression hardened, “My mom. But besides that? Just… kinda normal stuff. Everyone leaving me behind, that sort of thing. Nothing too out of the ordinary.”

“And why is that?” If coaxing answers out of him was this difficult, it must be even harder to get answers out of Yin. Dr. G knew she had to try to find a way for them all to feel comfortable with being around each other.

The boy frowned, sinking back into the sofa and looking to the side, “I don't know… Yin always says I’m not the best with change, maybe that’s it,” He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest, “There’s also just these memories in my mind. I used to be so strong. Steven was able to take down an entire empire and free gems from a dictatorship… and I’m _part_ of Steven. Nowadays it’s like everyone can just go ahead and… I’m still just _here._ I still just believe that everyone around me hates me and… I’d understand why. I don’t deserve love. No one should care about someone who’s stuck in the past.”

Maybe he really _was_ good at opening up. Dr. G frowned, “I know it feels that way at times, but that isn’t true. Anyone who loves Steven automatically loves you as well, and you deserve it just as much as anyone else does. And, hey, people may leave, but you’ll always meet new people who will stay with you no matter what.”

“I guess so,” Yang shrugged, reaching for his navel and panicking when he didn’t feel a gem. Oh… right. They were unfused. Sometimes he forgot this, even though it’s pretty obvious.

Dr. G took note of this and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “I believe you may have depression as well, again based on everything I’ve been told from both you and your father. We’ll have to schedule appointments more regularly so you have the opportunity to talk about your problems.”

The human tensed at this. Of course it didn’t surprise him, but the fact someone was actually able to tell something like that on day one? He nodded his head slowly, not knowing what to say. Had he been Steven right now, he's sure he’d be covered in butterflies. He snapped out of his thoughts when the other tapped his shoulder.

“Do you need a second to think?” She asked. As soon as she said this, the boy raced out of the door. She couldn’t help but worry about him and quickly followed him. However, she found him as soon as she stepped into the hallway.

Yin glanced up at Dr. G and muttered something to Yang, who had hugged the other as soon as he exited the therapist’s office. The human nodded and reluctantly let go of his gem. The gem quickly booped the other’s nose before walking into the office without another word.

Not all that surprised, Dr. G closed the door and took a seat. The gem stared at her expectantly, almost as if he were the one asking her the questions. The therapist decided to get straight to business, “So, Yin. Does anything bother you often, whether it be daily or not?”

“Pink Diamond,” Was all he replied with. His voice was a little bit more expressive this time, although the girl quickly recognized that he likely just wanted to see his human already.

Dr. G recognized the name as Steven’s mother, someone who he spoke of rather negatively in his rant. She took note of this, “Is there anything that tends to make you worry? This can include making you feel the need to protect someone, or…”

“Yang,” He interrupted, “I protect him. Always.”

“And is there a reason for that?” 

Yin was silent for a few moments, “Yes. Databases say he’s been through a lot. All apologies given are inadequate. Always.”

The therapist nodded, deciding to take note of this. She’d likely have to question him more next time, seeing as how the gem wasn’t at all. He was instead focused on getting out as soon as he could, probably to be with Yang again.

“Do you want to bring Yang and your dad in here?” Dr. G asked. Yin nodded and quickly walked outside at a pace that proved he wasn’t human. The therapist leaned back in her seat.

A full minute or two later, Yin stepped back into the office, cradling Yang in his arms and dragging Greg in with him. The gem took a seat on the sofa, holding his human half as close as possible. Only one thing was on his mind right now. _Fuse. Fuse. Fuse._

“Alright, we’ll need to schedule another appointment within the next few weeks. For now, I recommend that Steven’s components spend some more time unfused. This can help them find interests they like and can give them more time to learn more about themselves,” stated Dr. G, facing the boys’ father. Greg was awkwardly standing in the doorway.

“Geez, I can try to get them to,” Greg replied, shrugging his shoulders and putting on a nervous smile.

“It may take a lot of work,” Steven mused. His components had fused again, unsurprisingly, “They can’t bear to be three minutes apart.”

The boys laughed before thanking Dr. G a final time and leaving the office. As soon as they got back into the van, Greg spoke up, “So, what did you think?”

“It wasn’t that bad,” His son replied with a small smile, “I think it helped a lot, actually. I haven’t thought about myself in so long, and it turns out that talking about it really does help.” He hugged himself, thinking only positive thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> 4K words... as you can tell, I was bored haha  
> Hope you enjoyed ! 💕


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